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Sunday, February 18, 2007

Law - Kentucky legislator who let intern vote criticized

"Legislator who let intern vote criticized: House speaker says action violated rules" is the headline to a story today by Joseph Gerth in the Louisville Courier-Journal. Some quotes from the start of the story:

FRANKFORT, Ky. — In an apparent violation of the rules, an Eastern Kentucky legislator had his college intern cast several votes for him last Tuesday.

Rep. Brandon Smith, R-Hazard, said he was outside the House chamber, talking to a constituent on his cell phone, at the time.

But he said he was in contact with the intern -- a University of Louisville senior -- at all times and would signal him whether to vote "yes" or "no" and then monitor the tote board to make sure he voted properly.

House Speaker Jody Richards, D-Bowling Green, said Smith's actions violate House rules, which require members to cast their own votes. Richards said he plans to talk to Smith about how votes are cast and warn other members not to allow others to vote for them.

Smith, however, said he doesn't believe he violated any rules. And he said the matter came to light only because he is a candidate for state treasurer.

"This whole thing reeks of politics," he said.

This is not the first time questions have arisen about members voting. In 1986, for instance, former Democratic Rep. Terry Mann rigged a rubber band to hold down the voting device on his desk and cast a "yes" vote every time voting opened.

House Rule 68 says, "No member shall vote for another member, nor shall any person not a member cast a vote for a member."

Another provision, however, appears to open the door for members to cast votes for other members under limited circumstances. It says, "A member shall vote only when at the member's seat or visibly approaching it."

House leadership has traditionally allowed some flexibility.

It's not uncommon, for instance, for a member who is away from his desk to signal another legislator to vote for him on the House's electronic voting system.

Well, this brought back memories to the ILB. This April 8, 2004 ILB entry begins:
Remember the controversy in the Indiana General Assembly this year when House Speaker Pat Bauer attempted to permit an absent member to vote via computer? Read on:
At the end of March, it was alleged that one of Pennsylvania's senior state representatives, William Rieger (D -- Phila.) had engaged in what is called "ghost" voting. In Pennsylvania, representatives are required to be present for a vote. But Rep. Rieger allegedly rigged his voting button so that it would automatically cast his vote on six bills to be considered that day -- even though he had gone home to Philadelphia.
And that was just the start of a very interesting ILB entry. More, from Jan. 8, 2005, this ILB entry quotes from a NY Times story that begins:
ALBANY, Jan. 6 - A revolutionary change is coming to the State Assembly, as odd as it might sound to those uninitiated in Albany's ways: the Assembly is adopting new rules requiring lawmakers to actually be present in the Capitol when they want to vote on bills.

The change alters one of the more curious, and criticized, aspects of the byzantine system of lawmaking in the capital, where legislators use a kind of cruise-control approach to voting: once lawmakers sign in for the day, they are counted as voting yes on all bills unless they signal otherwise.

Posted by Marcia Oddi on February 18, 2007 10:38 AM
Posted to General Law Related